AN: Woah, what? Two updates in a week?! I must be going insane! Kidding, obviously; let's just call this a Christmas present :D For me, it's only just officially Christmas day, but a very Merry Christmas to those in places where the big day has already arrived properly and an Early Merry Christmas to those who are still waiting!

This chapter is two prompts shoved together; firstly because I thought you deserved a longer chapter after my severe lack of updates, and secondly because I thought they worked together. Enjoy!


The Five Year Mission was a huge thing. Jim knew that better than anyone; he'd been waiting for it for more than a year.

What Jim wasn't particularly knowledgeable about was the fact that it was even bigger for people with family to say goodbye to.

He'd miss Joanna, obviously; in fact, he'd miss her more than anything else on Earth. It struck him slightly as he remembered that she'd be a teenager when they returned. Five years was a long time, and Jim was more than a little upset that he'd be missing such a big part of Joanna's life.

And if he was upset, then Bones was distraught.

The man was waging a war with himself in his head and Jim was worried about him; he assured Bones that he wasn't expecting him to come on the trip and that he understood that he had Joanna and she was way more important than any mission. Bones would simply scoff and reply with a short 'who'd save your ass if I wasn't on board?'.

Jim hated seeing his best friend like he was and did everything he could to help Bones. Unfortunately, nothing that he did seemed to be working.

It all came to a point in the early hours of a Sunday morning. Joanna had stayed with Bones for a week during Spring Break, and had left the morning before. Jim hadn't seen Bones since they waved her off; that was, until the man came knocking on Jim's door at two thirty in the morning.

"Bones?" Jim rubbed his eyes tiredly, "What are you doing? It's almost three a.m., go home!"

"This is your fault," Bones slurred, holding the bottle of bourbon tightly in his right hand and pointing at Jim angrily with his left, "You're making me choose, Jim, I don't want to choose!" Jim sighed, rubbing a hand over his face wearily.

"Get your ass in here," he muttered after a second, "And for the love of God, you'd better be sharing that bottle, because if we're having an emotional conversation I want to be drunk for it."

Three hours later, the sun was starting to come up and the two had argued, gotten absolutely wasted, and passed out together on Jim's couch. Somewhere along the line, they'd decided to tell Joanna about the mission together, and Bones, having warned him that he would if he mentioned it again, punched Jim in the face for suggesting that he should stay on earth as opposed to going on the mission.

It was all incredibly disorganised, and the two woke up at midday with hangovers and very little recollection on their conversation. They both, however remembered the important thing: when it came to anything regarding the five year mission, they'd do it together; just like old times.


That didn't, of course, alleviate the anxiety that accompanied breaking the news to Joanna; they'd be missing five of the most important years of her life. They would miss her leaving Elementary School; they would miss her becoming a teenager; they'd probably miss her first boyfriend (and that, in particular, was a pain in Bones' ass: he'd been looking forward to scaring the living daylights of the first boy that went near his little girl).

When they returned, she'd most likely have a new set of friends, and, if Bones' personal experience was anything to go by, she'd have changed her outlook on life considerably. Who knew what she'd want to be when they got back. Would she still want to be a Starfleet officer? If not, then what did she want to do with her life? Would she still be friends with Dylan? Would she be more than friends with Dylan (Jim had already bet far too much on that hypothesis)?

Bones shook himself; he'd made his choice already and, beneath all the worry, the 'what ifs', the regrets of leaving his little girl behind, he knew one thing for certain: Joanna would want him to go.

That thought was what forced him to walk up to Jocelyn's door, forced him to knock, forced him to explain why he and Jim were there. Jocelyn had congratulated them both before the reality of the situation sunk in.

"You won't be here?" she asked, "At all? Not once?" Jim shook his head sadly.

"Probably not," he said uneasily, "There might be a couple of times, if there's a problem with the ship, or an issue on Earth but..."

Jocelyn nodded, not needing to hear any more. "She'll be heartbroken," she said quietly, "Excited, but... heartbroken."

"I know," Bones said quietly. Jocelyn looked up and met his eyes, understanding immediately that he knew far too well how his daughter would react.

"Daddy?!" Joanna paused in the doorway before running into the kitchen excitedly, "What are you doing here?! You didn't tell me you were coming! I only left on Saturday!" Bones smiled as she hugged him.

"I know, princess," he replied, pulling back from the hug, "Actually, Jim and I... we've got some news to tell you." Joanna looked from her father to Jim, frowning.

"Are you and Aunt Carol finally getting married?" Joanna asked, smirking slightly as a look of shock crossed his face.

"What?!" he squealed, "No! No, no, no! Definitely not. I told you, I don't even like Carol, I mean, I like her obviously, but I don't like her like that..." Joanna laughed.

"Every time!" she said happily, "It's so easy to make you nervous, Uncle Jim!" Jim blushed bright red and looked away, embarrassed.

"So what is your news?" Joanna asked, turning to her dad again. Bones pulled her closer, needing to hug her against him, her presence on his lap not enough.

"Well, you see, Jo," he started, "Do you remember, that one time, when Jim told you about the Five Year Mission that he really wanted?" Joanna nodded.

"The one where you travel through space and search for new civilisations and do what Starfleet is supposed to do, not what it says in the leaflets?" she checked. Bones chuckled.

"Yeah, that one," he replied, "Well, you see, the Admirals at Starfleet... they want to give that mission to the Enterprise." Joanna's eyes widened excitedly.

"You actually got it?!" Joanna turned to Jim, who nodded, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, Jo, we got it," he replied.

"But that's amazing!" she exclaimed, looking between them and then back to her mother, her face falling as she noted their expressions, "Why aren't you all more excited?" she asked. Bones opened his mouth to answer her question but couldn't find the words; how could he tell her, after all? How could he explain that he was leaving her to go and explore?

"The thing is, Jo," Jim cut in, "If we go... we won't see you for a really long time." Joanna frowned.

"How long?" she asked, "Longer than last time?"

"Longer than last time," Jim confirmed, "The mission is for five years, Jo. We'll still get to video chat but..."

"It won't be the same," Joanna finished for him, looking down. She could see her father's arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close, and tried to imagine not having that for five years. It was a difficult thought, especially for an eight year old. She looked up again, into her father's eyes, meeting him with a sincerity that an eight year old shouldn't have been capable of.

"I want you to go." She said firmly. Bones sighed, leaning his head forward to rest his forehead against hers.

"I thought you might say that," he whispered, "But I want you to be sure, Jo. Five years is-"

"A really long time," Joanna nodded her head against his, "I know. But you joined Starfleet when I was really little. You've always been a Starfleet officer, for me. That's all you've ever done, and it's what you like to do. Both of you," she added, turning to look at Jim, "And you can't stop doing that. I want you to go." She said, turning back to her dad. Bones hugged her tighter and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you more," Bones replied.

Jim felt like he was intruding slightly; Bones deserved that moment with his daughter, and he deserved to enjoy it alone. However, still with one arm around her dad's neck, Joanna reached out a hand to him, which he didn't hesitate to take.

"You'll come back?" she asked him, "You'll stay safe?" Jim nodded.

"I promise." He said, never having meant anything more in his life. Joanna nodded, smiling.

"Just wait until I tell everyone," she said quietly, "My daddy and my Uncle Jim, flying a starship for five years across the galaxy. I bet no one's parents will be able to say they've done that on Careers Day!"


Despite both Joanna's sadness and excitement on the matter, however, she didn't mention the mission for weeks. Jim was playing with the idea that maybe she'd just forgotten about it for the time being; he wasn't quite sure if he wanted it to be true or not.

As the one-year anniversary of Kahn's attack approached them, Jim was slightly shocked at how fast the months had gone by since the initial attack. Thinking back, it had just been a mass of recovery, paperwork and pointless little missions. But then, looking back on it, it had been so much more.

In those months, he had grown closer to Joanna than he ever could have believed that he would; she would call him almost as often as she called Bones, and he didn't mind the almost – Bones, after all, had put all the effort into making sure she was around.

He had put himself on good terms with all of the admirals, which, in itself, was an incredible feat, let alone the fact that they had trusted him enough to give the Enterprise the mission Kirk had dreamed of going on.

More importantly, Jim had re-evaluated his values, and had now decided that he knew what it meant to be a captain. That, in everyone's opinion, was a welcome change and a massive step from the immature twenty-one year old Jim had been when he first joined Starfleet.

All in all, the twelve months that had passed him by without so much as a second glance had offered him a number of revelations that would stay with him for the rest of his life. So, all in all, it hadn't been a bad year.

"Uncle Jim, you're daydreaming again," Joanna said, sounding bored. He was sat at Jocelyn's kitchen table, Joanna and Dylan (who had, apparently, frequented the house since Jim's visit to Joanna's school) looking impatient across from him.

"Am I?" Jim asked, smiling cheekily at her, "I hadn't realised."

"You're supposed to be writing your speech for the remembrance thingy!" Joanna scolded him, "And that won't happen if you're daydreaming!"

"Alright, Jo, I don't think Jim needs the lecture," Jocelyn said, dashing in with her bag half open as she attempted to multitask, "You're sure you don't mind looking after them? It's just until Tom from next door gets back from the store."

"Jocelyn, you know I'll look after them any time," Jim replied, rolling his eyes at the two kids and earning laughs in response, "Go to your meeting, we'll be fine."

"No blanket forts." Jocelyn said firmly, throwing Jim a knowing look, "Love you, Jo."

"Love you, mom," Joanna replied, waving goodbye to her mother as the door swung shut. Joanna turned around to look at Jim, "We are still making a blanket fort, aren't we?"

"Definitely," Jim agreed, laughing as Joanna and Dylan cheered, "But only if I finish my speech." The two sighed, slumping onto the table.

"We're never making a blanket fort," Dylan muttered into his arms.

"I know." Joanna replied, disheartened. Jim frowned.

"Wow, thanks for the votes of confidence, kiddos," he replied, "I'll have you know, my daydreaming offered some inspiration." Joanna glanced up with one eye.

"Do you even know what inspiration means?" she teased, sitting up and taking a cookie from a plate in the centre of the table. Jim glared at her.

"Yes, I know what it means," he replied, "I'm a genius, remember?"

"Yet to be proven," Dylan said, also taking a cookie, "You haven't played me at chess yet."

"Because I don't want to break your little heart," Jim smirked as Dylan rolled his eyes.

"Just write your speech," Joanna said, pushing his PADD closer to him, "Then I can stop feeling boring, telling you what to do. Being grown up is dull."


Eventually (after much more nagging from Joanna), Jim had finished his speech, beaten Dylan at chess and crashed in a blanket fort, where Jocelyn's next door neighbour, Tom, found him an hour and a half later.

"Er... are you alright in there?" Tom asked, frowning. Jim looked up, nodding happily.

"Got a bit carried away," he replied, climbing out and leaving Joanna and Dylan playing chess on top of what appeared to be a hundred pillows. Having decided that there wasn't enough room indoors, Jim suggested they made the fort outside. Assisted by an insane amount of garden furniture, three umbrellas and a rather large tree, the blanket fort had migrated into something that was more like a blanket mansion.

"You don't say," Tom chuckled, "Are you sure Jocelyn is okay with all this?" Jim glanced back inside the fort, where Joanna and Dylan had suddenly gone quiet.

"Sure," Jim said easily, "The kids love it and she told me to keep them entertained. I didn't think she'd want all the mess in the house." Tom nodded.

"Well, if you want to go, the kids will be fine with me," he said. Jim smiled.

"Bye, Jojo," he called inside, "See you, Dylan."

"Bye, Jim." Dylan replied, taking his next move, "Checkmate." He said smugly to Joanna, who poked her tongue out at him and ran to say goodbye to Jim.

"I'll see you on Tuesday," Jim said as she hugged him tightly.

"I know," she said, her voice muffled by his jacket, "But I'll miss you until then. I want to make the most of the time before you go away." Jim was quiet for a moment, processing the fact that Joanna hadn't forgotten about the mission at all.

"We've still got a few more weeks, Jo," he said quietly, "And Spring Break isn't over just yet. We've got loads of time." Joanna nodded her head against his chest.

"Not long enough, though," she replied. Jim kissed the top of her head, smiling to try and cheer her up.

"I'll see you soon," he promised. Joanna nodded, standing where she was until Jim had disappeared and she heard his hovercar driving away.


This was, of course, entirely true; Joanna had been formally invited by the Admirals to attend the remembrance ceremony that would be held a week and a half after Jim's visit and Joanna hadn't given her mother a choice in the matter when she announced that she would be attending.

She was proud to say that she was the first official child of a Starfleet employee to have been given a purple shirt, indicating that she was a strong candidate for joining the organisation herself. On the day of the memorial service, she wore her shirt with pride, sitting next to her father, Jim having just vacated his seat as he went up to present his speech. Bones held his little girl tight to him, knowing that it was a feeling he would have to get used to missing.

"There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves. Our first instinct is to take revenge when those we love are taken from us. But that's not who we are," Jim started, looking out at the hundreds of Starfleet officers and their families who had turned up for the event, "We are here today to rechristen the USS Enterprise, and to honour those who lost their lives nearly one year ago." He looked down to where his crew was sitting, immediately picking them out in the field of grey dress uniforms those gathered were wearing. And then there was Joanna, her purple shirt sticking out immediately, and he allowed himself a pause to appreciate how proud it made him feel.

"When Christopher Pike first gave me his ship, he had me recite the Captain's Oath: words I didn't appreciate at the time. Now, I see them as a call for us to remember who we once were, and who we must be again. And those words:

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilisations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."


Kind of fluffy, kind of sad, I guess. Is it a welcome Christmas present? I think the quick update should be considered one :3 For the next... quite-a-few chapters, there will probably be more Jim/Bones friendship and a bit more of Joanna being independent... this is turning into more of an actual fic as opposed to the collection of one-shots I originally started writing. Is that a good change?

Reviews are a dream, and those who leave them are wonderful and I love you to pieces! Let me know what you thought of this chapter: I love any and all feedback (but remember: it is Christmas and therefore happiness is essential). If you have a scene you'd like included, let me know; I'll try my hardest to write it :) Until the next time, my friends, thank you for reading and have a very Merry Christmas!